To Follow In Their Footsteps
by AscendedAbyss
Summary: As dueling factions within Konoha struggle for control, Naruto is trapped between multiple, plotting schemes and his own desire to succeed in his heroes' footsteps. Naruto/Ino
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His advance came as sudden as the killing intent. It hit with a force so unfamiliar to Naruto that he barely had time to brace himself for impact. Punches soared at his face and chest, but if the blond haired boy was anything he was fast. Ducking to the side of a fatally powerful jab, Naruto rolled into a spree of flips that left him ten feet in the air on the branch of a tree.

"What the hell was that, Saru-Sensei?" He yelled with melodramatic agony, holding his ribs that had taken a minor beating, "They told you to teach me to fight, not kill me!" Sarutobi Asuma just smirked, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with abandon. Growling at his apathetic sensei, Naruto rushed him with all the speed he could muster. Next thing he knew, there was a flare of pain from a fist in his gut and he was lying on the ground beneath his _heavy_ Jounin-sensei. "Erg! G-get off of me you psycho!"

"Oh, so you can keep trying to hit me?" Asuma asked, looking down beneath his legs at the diminutive Naruto while still pulling on his cigarette. The blond hacked when the smoke hit him in the face, "And again with the drama. Kid, you are starting to remind me of a woman." Naruto just pouted, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently in silence. A moment later, and after a good, painful readjustment, Asuma slowly rose off the boy and let him stand with as much dignity as he could still muster. Flicking his cigarette, the man turned and began to walk back towards the village. "Come on, Gaki. I'm hungry and your sorry excuse for a Shinobi physique isn't going to get better eating noodles all day."

Naruto knew when he was being goaded, but still had to resist the temptation of attacking the man when he insulted Ramen. No one insults the noodles! Instead, Naruto just grumbled out a few choice words, kicking dirt up into the air before jumping after his sensei.

Though it was called a village, for all intents and purposes Konohagakure was a massive, bustling city. Vendors lined the streets of the market district, looking to make bank on the heavy wallets of Konoha's people. Asuma and Naruto, both having grown up with greedy hands and eyes searching for chances to get free food, had a healthy respect for the area and walked swiftly past.

Soon enough, they were sitting at a table in a restaurant famed for its barbecued pork, staring in content silence at their menus. Asuma, a long-time customer before his flight from Konoha during his teens, already knew what he wanted; it was just a matter of habit that he stared down at the familiar, hand-written characters. Naruto, on the other hand, was trying his best to find a food as close to Ramen as possible, but was sadly in for a devastating surprise.

"This place doesn't sell noodles at all!" He cried out in dismay, looking aghast as crocodile tears rolled down his face.

"Oh suck it up, brat. Ancestors help me, I'm going to start calling you Naruko if you don't quit this soon." The blondes pout came back in full force, only for him to form an inquisitive look on his face.

"So, Saru-sensei, are you going to be teaching me some awesome jutsu tomorrow? I'm really excited to learn how to use the trench knives." Asuma laughed. Naruto, not expecting this, just glared at him until the man finally ended his spree of gut-wrenching laughter.

"Naruto, I'm going to be honest," the Jounin said with a final chuckle, "you are not going to be learning any jutsu, especially my Ninjutsu, for a _long_ time. How old are you, eight?"

"Nine!" The blond yelled out indignantly.

"Nine, then, and still far too young to learn the big stuff. My father," and at this his voice turned bitter, "asked me to train you as a favor to him … not that I have any reason for doing my father favors." Naruto, unusually somber, nodded as the table fell into an uncomfortable silence. He still didn't understand the reasons why his sensei disliked his own father so much. The man was the Hokage! The leader of the village! The _strongest_ in the village! And he liked Ramen, too!

"Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked hesitantly. The man looked away from his menu, his eyes still hard, "Why'd you come back to Konoha, then?" It was a simple question, but Asuma was still at a loss on how to respond. Fortunately enough for him, the waiter chose this moment to appear, giving the Jounin a golden opportunity to turn the subject away from himself. Still, he knew he would have to answer his student some day. At that time, maybe the blond would learn that Hokage isn't synonymous with perfect.

Somehow though, Sarutobi Asuma doubted it.

Naruto collapsed to the ground, panting heavily against the still vibrating wooden post. It was his least favorite exercise: five-hundred punches, as Saru-sensei called it. Still, it definitely had improved on Naruto's performance. At ten years old, his body was devoid of the infamous childhood fat and lean with a fighter's musculature. He was slowly learning the Sarutobi Clan Taijutsu: The Monkey Fist. It was a bit too slow of a Taijutsu style for him, concentrating on the power and suddenness of the movement instead. Still, it helped him to take things slow and think through his actions rather than just rushing in blindly. Well, at least that's what Asuma said.

"Come on. Get up, you lazy punk! I don't spend my days helping you get better so you can lay down on the job. Now I want you to recite as much as you know about Chakra to me, now." Naruto glared at his sensei who was sitting in the corner cleaning one of his trench knives. That man was ten times lazier than Naruto! He was almost as lazy as Naruto's classmate, Nara Shikamaru, and that was saying something when the boy's fondest pastime was sleeping. Staring at the clouds took too much energy, most days.

Instead of complaining, though, Naruto slowly used the post as leverage to gain his bearings and stand up. When he made it to his feet, he wobbled over to his sensei.

"Chakra is your body's energy and your mind's energy swirled up into one big … hunk," Naruto explained with his usual verbal acuity, nodding when he came up with such an appropriate adjective. "This hunk is then shot from your body in a certain way through hand signs." At this he showed off the specific hand signs, grinning boldly at his sensei who stood there for a few minutes just staring.

"Is that really everything you know about Chakra?" Naruto gaped back at the question, his expression comical.

"What!? That's like everything there is to know about Chakra! Ever!" At this, Asuma pulled out a trench knife and formed energy. Little Naruto could only stare in awe at the awesome Chakra forming around the end of blade.

"This, Naruto is Fuuton. Fuuton, otherwise known as Wind Release, is one of five elemental Chakras. I'm an expert in this element and one of the other five, Katon. Hopefully …" Asuma paused abruptly, trying to pull back before Naruto heard more than he needed to. "Well, never mind. I'll teach you about elemental affinities later.

"All you need to know is that Chakra can form into five elements: Fuuton, Katon, Suiton, Doton, and Raiton. Each of the major five villages has a common affinity for their people. Ours is Katon." At this he went through a series of hand signs before turning and extending his palm towards a large rock,

" Katon: Endan!" A ball of fire easily ten feet wide erupted from Asuma's hand, engulfing the boulder and charring it as well as the grass around it. Naruto was once again left gaping before energy seemed to well up in his body and he jumped high, crying,

"That was so cool!" Asuma laughed at that, grabbing for another cigarette and sitting back down against the tree. Reaching about him, he grabbed a leaf and raised it up for Naruto to grab. The blond did as told hesitantly, looking at the leaf as if it was diseased.

"This, Naruto, is what will allow you to execute Ninjutsu. Well, the first step at least. What I want you to do is place that leaf in your palm." Naruto did so. "Now, your job is to keep that leaf from falling to the ground."

"Hah, that's it?" The ten year old scoffed, happy with himself for getting such an easy task. He was well on his way to Hokage already, if this was the first step!

"Now keep it from falling to the ground after turning your hand over with just Chakra."

"…. WHAT!?"

The next few hours were truly trying for the blond. His efforts seemed in vain each time he tried, because the damned leaf just kept falling! He would slowly turn his hand, concentrating on getting his Chakra to his hand, but it wouldn't work!

"Gah! I'm done! What am I doing wrong, Saru-sensei?" Asuma just laughed, flicking his cigarette butt before standing up.

"Don't worry, kid. I didn't get it on my first day, either. I actually felt something from you, though, which is surprising enough. Just take a night and think on it. Maybe then it'll come to you." With that, and a casual wave, Asuma made his way out of the training ground, leaving Naruto to stand there in desolate silence. The petulant blond kicked at a rock, making his way back towards the city. He would have academy in the morning, anyways.

Falling asleep that night was tough for the blond. He couldn't understand why he was failing!

"What the hell's Chakra, anyways?" At that, Naruto stopped dead, wondering to himself. What exactly was Chakra, in all truth? He had never felt Chakra from himself before. He was good with his fists, and could throw a few shuriken, but that was about it. Maybe … maybe he couldn't use Chakra like Saru-sensei or the old man could? Looking at his clock, he jumped out of bed. If he was lucky, he could make it in to see the Hokage before he left and find out!

Running down the streets full tilt, the blond dodged between closed vendor stalls and trash bins to keep out of sight. He knew that in this village, at this time of night, bad things could and would happen to him: multiple scares proved that much.

Quickly enough, though, Naruto was knocking on the Hokage's office door. A throat cleared through the door before he heard a familiar voice call out for him to enter. Twisting the door knob with relief, Naruto grinned and waved at his sensei's father and Hokage.

"Hey, old man! I've got a question!" Said old man just sighed and smiled, noting the time with a hint of wonder and vague happiness for an excuse to get away from backed up paper work.

"Yes, Naruto-kun? What is it?"

"Well," said blond began, " I wanted to know if you felt your own Chakra before the age of ten?" At this, the Sandaime's attention was caught. He smiled.

"Naruto, you have no idea how happy it is for me to hear that you have never been forced to use your own Chakra before now." Standing up despite Naruto's aghast look, he came around the desk and sat on the couch next to the blond boy. "Did you know that in my day, most young boys and girls had been in a true, deadly battle by the age of six or seven? A clan of ninja taught their children to be killers from the time they could walk. Would you be happy that way, Naruto?"

The serious turn of the conversation had caught Naruto by surprise, but not enough that he wouldn't stop and think about the question. He could only shake his head no, wondering how anyone could be. He didn't want to fight now! Yeah, he wanted to be a cool ninja, but the thought of fighting … bleeding, hurting, and dying … it took the breath out of him.

"You see, Naruto," the Sandaime asked with a serene smile and light fingers rubbing along the blondes scalp, "that picture over there?" He pointed across from them, to a portrait of a very familiar figure: the Yondaime Hokage. "That man, Namikaze Minato, our Yondaime Hokage-sama, sacrificed everything so that you wouldn't. The most I could do in response is give you as much of a childhood as possible under the circumstances." Suddenly realizing he was saying too much, the Sandaime coughed.

Naruto wasn't paying attention, though, immersed in memories. His childhood may have been rough, but he hadn't been forced to fight for his life against deadly Shinobi. Gulping at the thought, the blond decided that from this point onwards he would do whatever he could to become just like the Yondaime.

"Yatta!" he cried, jumping up and shocking the old Hokage, "I'll protect this village with my blood, just like you and the Yondaime, old man! I'll figure out this Chakra thing, I've got to!" Shaking off any more thoughts about being unable to use his Chakra, Naruto ran out of the Hokage tower with a new purpose.


	2. Chapter 2

AN:

I forgot to add a disclaimer before, so here I go: I don't own Naruto or anything else you read in my story. I only take credit for my own, original ideas.

This is my first story in the Naruto genre and only my second story ever. Well, not that my first was even considered a story (I should probably take that down). Anyways, by no means will this be a regular sized chapter, as I'm more of a 5k-10k word updater. This is going to be a short update so that I can get the essential framework for my story out of the way, which revolves somewhat around the relationship between Asuma and the Sandaime, as well as their individual relationships with Naruto. The other side, which I chose not to name in my summary, will show up.

This is a Naruto/Ino, though that's not going to happen for a bit. I'll introduce the other crew to the story soon enough and the actual plot will begin to develop. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2

When Asuma walked into the clearing the next afternoon, he was more than prepared to wait at least an hour for the slow and lazy Naruto to arrive. For this reason, his cigarette dropped from his lips when he found Naruto holding not one leaf, but three leaves from different areas of his body.

"N-Naruto? How in the hell..." he coughed, trying to remember that he was speaking to a ten year old, "When did you learn to do that?" His much more sensible question clearly belied the shocked look on his face, which Naruto noticed with an ecstatic grin.

"I talked to the old man, Saru-sensei, and he helped me out." At this Asuma's face fell into a frown. It could have been the fact that his student was getting help from another person, or it could have just been the fact that that other person was his father. Either way, Asuma let his mouth get ahead of his brain.

"Naruto, I never want you going to someone else for help on something I teach you ever again! It is my job to train you, and if you can't learn from me then I will be the one to decide if you can learn from someone else! Have I made myself clear?" His burst of anger led Naruto's face through a series of emotions. First shock, then anger, then hurt. By the time Asuma noticed the extent to which his rage had affected Naruto, the young blond had already turned tail and ran.

All that was left were the three leaves he had been miraculously working with slowly floating to the ground and blowing away in a sudden, harsh wind.

Asuma, suddenly realizing who he was taking his frustrations with his father out on, could only collapse backwards against the tree. Reaching for a cigarette blindly, his hand stopped around the pack. Grabbing it, he crushed it in his hands and threw it to the ground.

"Fuck!"

Jumping up, Asuma raised his hands up into a Tora seal and released his Chakra outwards. He quickly found the recognizable Chakra that only Naruto could have, turning and rushing in that direction at speeds only a Jounin could manage.

* * *

A sniffling Naruto sat clutching at clumps of grass, absentmindedly rubbing his fingers across the now familiar texture. He'd skipped the Academy just to work on the leaf exercise and when he finally showed his sensei this was what he got!

Staring out at the glistening pond in front of him, he picked up a rock and chucked it. The splash and ripples of water did little for his frustration, but then again he didn't think such a big deal was worth such a little rock. Plopping back down onto his butt, he fell backwards and stared up at the clouds. Shikamaru had to have a reason for watching them, right?

"Naruto!" Said blond jumped at his voice, turning and quickly glaring at his sensei who stood there looking sorely out of place.

"What do _you_ want?" Naruto asked with all the sourness he could put into his voice. The jerk deserved it! Asuma just scratched his head and opened his mouth, only to close it again as he tried to figure out just what to say.

"Look, Naruto," he finally started before wincing, "I … well, the thing is … look, I'm sorry, alright? You know my father and I don't get along so when you say something like that, it sets me off. What did he tell you, anyways?" At this, his voice once again became petulant, memories of his past flying quickly across his mind.

Naruto stood there, wondering if he should say anything at all as Asuma waited for a reply. Finally, he rushed out,

"I asked him if I was just someone who couldn't use Chakra right like you all can. He said, and I don't get this, that I was lucky I didn't ever have to use Chakra before I was this age." Naruto shook his head as Asuma's jaw dropped, wondering how he had so thoroughly warped Naruto's reply with his own bitterness.

"I don't really get why that's important," Naruto continued with a shrug and a light blush, "but what he said next makes sense even to me! He said that the Yondaime gave everything he had to make sure that everyone in Konoha, including me, could live how he couldn't! If I can do the same, bleed for the people who come after me, then maybe no one will ever have to live like I do! That's why I'm going to practice as hard as I can to become the best Shinobi I can be!"

Asuma's face, throughout the conversation, had slowly warped into a small smile. Walking forward, he got down on a knee and pulled Naruto into a hug. The boy froze for a moment, wondering how his day had gone from so good, to so bad, then back again. Finally he wrapped his own arms around the man and hugged back.

"Naruto," Asuma said as he pulled away, "I was one of the Elite Guardians for the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni, yet I'll never have the same fire in me that you do." He pulled at the cloth tied around his waist, a symbol of his past and decided then and there that he couldn't run away any longer. Standing up, he ruffled Naruto's hair. "I've got someone I need to talk to, but I'll be back soon. Wait for me at our regular spot and keep up with your training, alright?" The blond nodded, smiling up at his sensei before running back the way they had come with a much happier gait.

Asuma watched him go until his orange figure disappeared in the tree line before turning and making his way back towards the village, all the while wondering how he of all people had been landed with such a special little punk.

* * *

_Thunk_

Wood vibrated as a fist came into full contact with the pole.

_Thunk_

Naruto grunted with effort, his hands stinging as they made contact for nearly the seventieth time. He usually just went to fifty each set, but he had swore to himself that he would take Asuma's Five-Hundred Punches and change it to Naruto's One-Thousand Punches.

All the while, nearly ten leaves sat vertically on his body, stuck to his hands and arms as he went through the grueling exercise.

"Naruto, is that you?" Turning his head and letting the leaves fall from his arms, Naruto saw his teacher, Umino Iruka standing there with his stance firmly showing his annoyance. "And why weren't you at school today, Naruto? Slacking off is not going to get you Rookie of the Year, you know?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously while trying to come up with a quick excuse,

"I … uh … got lost in … ah … a really good bowl of Ramen?" he half-asked, blushing despite himself. Iruka's head slowly seemed to grow as he stalked forward, his infamous school-yard jutsu coming in to play.

"What kind of excuse is that?! You slack off of my class and tell me you got lost in noodles! Come with me!" He grabbed Naruto's ear, pulling him back towards the village.

"H-hey! Let me go, you jerk! Stop pulling at my ear! Iruka!"

Two hours later, a very tired Naruto came back smelling of stale gum and rubbing alcohol. Asuma was sitting against a rock, slowly polishing his knife.

"Sorry for being so late, Saru-sensei. Iruka found me and he sure wasn't happy about me skippi…." Naruto stopped dead, suddenly realizing he hadn't told Asuma either. He gulped when the man's gaze slowly rose from his knife, but was surprised when it was rather serene and relaxed.

"Think about it this way, Naruto. Would I rather you skip Academy to go and make some prank or train to become a better ninja?" Stunned for a moment at a much different response then the one he was getting, Naruto suddenly burst into smiles.

"So does that …"

"No."

"But…"

"No."

Asuma just smiled as Naruto pouted quietly to himself. The kid sure could be a handful, but it was worth it.


End file.
